


What makes you human

by shutupmulder



Category: Mission: Impossible, Mission: Impossible (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Comfort, F/M, Ilsa meets the worst people, Sometimes it gets to her, Thankfully Ethan is there for her, Warning: Foul language, honeypot mission
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-03
Updated: 2019-02-03
Packaged: 2019-10-21 15:01:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17645036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shutupmulder/pseuds/shutupmulder
Summary: Ilsa is sent on a honeypot mission that affects her more than it usually does.





	What makes you human

**IMF Safehouse, Minsk, Belarus**

Ethan sighed and pulled her body even closer to his chest.

”I can hear you thinking.” He spoke against her neck.

”Mm.” She hummed. ”I just have a bad feeling about this.”

”The plan or the mission?”

”No, it’s just.. The more I read about Anton Rahula..” she shook her head and bit her lip.

”He’s a vile man.” Ethan finished for her.

”Yes, he is. And you know how human trafficking gets to me.” She sighed.

“Ilsa, if there was another way to get the intel, you know I would choose that.” His hand gently caressed her stomach.

“It’s okay, Ethan. I just don’t like it.” In truth, she disliked honeypot missions in general. However, the description of Anton Rahula in their file was highly disturbing and even if all the honeypot missions she had done had obviously involved a bad guy, some were worse than others. Like this one.

“I don’t like it, either.” He mumbled into her hair and she put her hand over the one on his stomach.

“We should get some sleep.” Closing her eyes, she moved around to a more comfortable position, still with her back against his chest.

“Mm. Goodnight, Ilsa.” He whispered and placed a gentle kiss to her neck.

“Goodnight, Ethan.”

 

**Anton Rahula’s mansion, Minsk, Belarus**

“You’re up next, Ilsa.” Ethan spoke into his earpiece, watching the stage from the bar.

“Good luck.” Brandt’s voice could be heard in her earpiece as she walked closer to the tiny stage. She mumbled a “thanks” before walking up with a bright smile to the man standing in front of the stairs.

“Name?” The man asked, looking down at a list.

“Lily Wright.”

“Welcome to the stage.” He gestured with his hand for her to walk up the low stairs to the stage.

She remembered the conversation that took place in the IMF Headquarters little over three days ago.

_“Anton is a great music lover, and his parties always include an hour or so where his guests sign up to play something if they want to. It is always just the piano. That is the reason why our team specifically was chosen for this mission. Because of you, Ilsa.” Ethan spoke._

_Ilsa kept her face neutral, but she was cursing inwardly._

_“I had no idea you could play the piano.” Benji spoke with a smile on his face._

_She did not need to turn her head to know that Brandt and Luther were smirking._

_In every agent’s file, there is information about additional skills. If someone is good at for example a sport, a game or playing an instrument - that information could be found in the file. It was most agents nightmare when additional skills were used, depending on the skill and how much they enjoyed performing it, and it was always fun to tease your team member whenever it came up._

_“I’m sorry, I know you probably hate this. But it is the perfect way to catch his attention. We don’t want you to be too forward, we want him to make contact with you. And if you do this, he will definitely want to make contact because, apparently, most guests playing are middle-aged men.” Ethan gave her a sympathetic smile._

_Ilsa sat in silence for a few moments before she sighed. “Fine. I’ll do it.”_

As of right now, Ilsa deeply regretted her decision when walking up the stairs, moving gracefully towards the piano. Not only did she have to play the piano in front of other people, something she loathed doing, but after that, she would have to seduce a man so vile that she would rather put a bullet in his head.

However, they needed the intel in order to bring this guy down along with his “business” so she kept a small smile on her face as she sat down on the piano chair.

Taking a deep breath, she placed her fingers on the piano, trying to focus on the notes that she had studied and practised in the past three days. Entering her own little world, her fingers danced on the keys and before she knew it the song was over.

“He’s moving towards the stage. He looked very impressed. You did great, Ilsa.” Ethan spoke into the earpiece, watching as Anton moved towards Ilsa.

“That was amazing.” Benji spoke in awe, and Ilsa groaned inwardly as she offered a shy smile before walking off the stage.

Ilsa started walking in the direction of the bar. “He’s right behind you, coming up to you now.” Ethan spoke.

Sitting down on one of the heavy bar chairs, she did not even have the chance to speak to the bartender before Anton sat down in the empty chair next to her, turning to look at her.

“Can I get you a drink, miss-?” He asked with a questioning smile on his face.

“Wright. Lily Wright. Whiskey on the rocks, please.” She answered with a smile.

Anton quickly ordered two whiskeys before turning towards her again. “I’m Anton Rahula.” He reached for her hand and she slowly offered it to him. Placing a kiss on top of it, he gave her a smile. “It’s very nice to make your acquaintance.”

“I know who you are. My uncle does business with you.” She slowly pulled her hand back and mumbled a thank you to the bartender as their whiskeys were placed on the table.

“Cheers,” She raised her glass and he did the same before they sipped their drinks.

Ilsa let her eyes flutter for a moment as the alcohol burned her throat.

“Who’s your uncle?” Anton asked.

“Oh, you probably don’t know him, he’s not one of the big names. Alex Wright.” She licked her lips as she glanced at Anton.

“Can’t say I’ve heard of him.” It took him a few seconds to answer, his gaze focused on her deep red lips before they finally reached her eyes again.  

Ilsa took another sip of the whiskey as Anton placed his hand not so discreetly on her thigh as he leaned in.

“I heard you playing and I was mesmerized.” Ilsa shivered at his voice talking directly in her ear, and it was not the kind of shivers she would get when Ethan spoke in her ear the same way. It was the kind of shivers that told you to get the hell away from there.

Ignoring the thoughts in her head, she turned her head towards his so that they were now cheek to cheek. “Were you now?” She whispered low into his ear.

He pulled back slightly to look into her eyes. “Yes.”  

Without warning, he grabbed the back of her head and pushed his mouth onto hers. Ilsa let out a muffled sound of shock but did not move.

A few moments later, he pulled back slightly, the hand on her thigh slowly moving up, caressing her stomach and right below her breast. He opened his eyes to look at her and his gaze was even darker than before.

She knew he was a violent and sexist man. She knew she would not be able to chat up the mark the way she was used to - when _she_ was the one controlling the situation. This man liked hurting women and he saw them as properties. The only way to go with him to his room was if she played the role of submissive.

He brushed one of the loose curls away from her face, a nice gesture after the stunt he just pulled, to try and make her feel safe again.

“You’re so beautiful.” His hand moved a little higher and one finger lightly touched her breast. She wanted nothing more than to break that finger, yet she gave him a shy smile.

His fingers traced even higher, caressing her chest, throat, her lips, her cheek and she fluttered her eyes and let a small gasp escape from her mouth as if she enjoyed the sensation. His eyes were focused on her every move and once again he surprised her by gripping her face in a way not unlike Solomon Lane had once held her.

His grip was tight and she could her Ethan release a huff of breath into the earpiece, obviously watching them with anger.

“Are you a good girl?” He whispered and she kept her eyes on his, ignoring the slight sting in her jaw at his tight grip.

“Is that what you want me to be?” Her words were slightly muffled because of his grip on her jaw but by the way his mouth opened slightly, she knew he had understood her.

“I want to make you scream. I want to make you beg for me to fuck you, just like the little whore you are. Can you do that for me?”

There he was. The real Anton Rahula, not the nice guy character he had tried to pull off for the past few minutes.

“What are you waiting for?” She placed a hand at the one still gripping her jaw and traced her fingers lightly on his arm.

Letting go of her face, he stood up from the bar chair. “Let’s go.” He grabbed her hand and rather than helping her off the chair, he dragged her, and Ilsa kept her face blank as she moved with him towards his room.

 

**Safehouse, Minsk, Belarus**

The rest of the mission had been easy. Once the door had closed behind them, Ilsa had taken him out and downloaded the files from the computer. Making her escape through the ventilation system, she was soon out of the building with Ethan and on their way back to the safehouse.

As the hot water flowed down her back she had her eyes closed, trying to block out each and every memory of Anton Rahula. Every touch, every gaze, every word. Every horrible thing he had done to so many innocent people in the world.

She scrubbed her body twice as if it would help get his stench and touch off of her. Eventually, the water ran cold and she turned it off. Standing still for a few moments, she breathed evenly before she dried herself off and put on comfortable pyjama clothes.

Walking inside her and Ethan’s room in the safehouse, she found him sitting up on the bed, a tablet in his hands. He looked up as she entered, a small smile on his face before he put the tablet away on the bedside table.

Soon she was under the covers, lying on her back as Ethan remained seated. Of course, he waited for her to either say something or to tell him what to do. Staring up at the ceiling in silence for a minute, she finally sighed and turned to him.

“Come here.” She gestured for him to lay down on his back and he complied.

Resting her head on his chest, her arm flung around his middle, and she listened to his heartbeat.

”Are you okay?” Ethan’s hand moved in small circles on her back.

”Mm.” She paused. ”I wanted to kill him.”

”I know. Believe me, no one would blame you for it. But soon he and his people will no longer be doing what they do. Because of you.”

”Because of us,” she corrected him and he hummed.

A short silence lasted before he heard her let out a shuddering breath.

”Hey..” he said gently and his free hand found its way into her wet hair, pulling some strands away from her face. ”It’s okay.” He murmured as he could feel her body trembling and she nodded in response to his words.

”I know. I’m sorry, I just-.” She wavered off, shifting positions slightly and burying her face into his neck.

”Don’t apologize.”

She released a shaky breath into his neck.

”He just.. he got to me. And obviously not just what he did to me - it’s the knowledge that he has done this to so many women, knowing how he runs business encouraging this behaviour, selling innocent people, forcing them into prostitution.”

”I know, Ilsa.” He spoke into her hair, his hand still stroking her back.

”In the shower..” she started. ”I couldn’t get him off of me. Not just his touch, but _him_.”

As long as she could remember, whenever there had been a bad mission, a hot shower would be the best help to take her mind off it. Not just physically, washing the blood and dirt off your skin and making your muscles relax, but also psychologically, with the hot water pouring over you, it was as if it cleansed your soul and washed away your worries, actions and thoughts.

Occasionally, the shower would not help. When a mission was too much for her to handle, either if it was bad psychologically or physically, sometimes it was not enough. It could take her days, sometimes even weeks if it was bad enough, to recover.

However, since she and Ethan found each other, suddenly he had become her touchstone in finding peace and calm after a mission. She was glad that it was the same for him.

”It’s okay, Ilsa. He will never touch you again and soon he will never be able to lay his hands on any woman. The son of a bitch will pay for his crimes.”

Ilsa nodded against his neck and he could feel her body starting to relax and her breathing getting more even.

”The world is a fucked up place.” She mumbled into his neck.

”It is. But it’s good we help make it better.”

”Yes.” Hugging him even tighter, she pressed a kiss to his neck. ”I love you, Ethan. So much.”

”I love you more.” He smiled and she huffed a laugh in disbelief at his words, but let it slide for this time.

The next few minutes were shared in silence, one of Ethan’s hands stroking her back and the other gently combing his fingers through her hair. He listened to her even breaths and released an inaudible sigh as she finally fell asleep in his arms.

He hated these kinds of missions, hated Anton Rahula and people like him who did not deserve to live. He hated to see how it hurt the person he cared most about in the world, who also happened to be the strongest and bravest person he knew.

Ethan knew she could take it. He wished she did not have to, but he knew she could. It might take a day or a week, but soon she would be back to her normal self, just like it sometimes took him days to get back to normal after a mission as well. They were so much alike, even if they cursed when the team kept teasing them about it.

They had each other and in the end, everything was going to be alright.

**Author's Note:**

> It's pretty angsty and dark, but it just came to me..  
> Please don't forget to leave a comment, it means a lot.


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